11 killed in three blasts in Pakistan

Three powerful blasts on Wednesday rocked Pakistan, including two outside an Imambargah in Karachi, killing at least 11 people even as security was tightened across the country to avert attacks on Shia gatherings in the month of Muharram.

At least two persons were killed and several others injured when a suicide attacker's explosives detonated after his motorcycle met with an accident outside a Shia prayer hall in Karachi, police said.

Police officials told the media that the incident occurred outside an imambargah at Orangi town in Karachi on Wednesday evening.

Within minutes of the blast, another bomb exploded outside the same imambargah killing another two.

The blasts came on the eve of the Developing Eight summit, which brings together Egypt, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey in Islamabad.

Evidence gathered from the site of the first blast, suggested the rider of the motorcycle was a suicide attacker whose explosives had gone off after his vehicle collided with an auto rickshaw.

Two persons were killed and several others injured, witnesses and police officials told TV news channels.

The explosion damaged nearby buildings and shops. No group has claimed responsibility for the incident.

Security has been tightened across Pakistan to avert possible attacks on Shia gatherings in the Islamic month of Muharram.

Meanwhile, seven persons, including a woman, were killed and 20 others injured when a vehicle of the security forces was today targeted with a roadside bomb in Quetta city of south west Pakistan, police said.

The vehicle was hit by the blast in Shahbaz Town in the suburbs of Quetta city, the capital of the restive Balochistan province this afternoon.

Three security personnel and a woman were among those killed in the attack.

Twenty injured people, including seven security personnel, were taken to nearby hospitals, police officials said.

The powerful blast destroyed the security forces vehicle, two cars and a motorcycle. Several nearby buildings and shops were also damaged.

Footage on television showed several burning cars that had been peppered by shrapnel packed into the bomb.

Police officials said an estimated 15-kg of explosives was used in the attack.

No group claimed responsibility for the incident though such attacks are usually blamed on Baloch nationalist groups.